Americans traveling through airport security might notice messages blaming Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown playing inside terminals nationwide.
The 36-second video includes a message from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
"It is TSA's top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience as possible while we keep you safe," she said. "However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government. And because of this, many of our operations are impacted and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.
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"We will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact your travel and our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government."
The White House’s messaging about blaming Democrats for the shutdown has come under scrutiny from activists who say the administration is violating the Hatch Act. The law prohibits federal workers from conducting partisan political activity in their official capacity.
The activist group Public Citizen said that messaging on government websites blaming Democrats for the shutdown violates the act.
“The Trump administration is violating the Hatch Act with reckless abandon — using taxpayer dollars to plaster partisan screeds on every government homepage that they can get their hands on," Craig Holman, a government ethics expert with Public Citizen, said.
Republicans hold majorities in the House and Senate, but Democrats have been able to block a continuing resolution from passing in the Senate, as it takes 60 votes to approve spending bills. Democrats are attempting to prevent the expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits and a reduction in Medicaid benefits.
Republicans have urged Democrats to support what they call a “clean” continuing resolution, which would fund the government into late November.
When the government shut down for 35 days in December 2018 and January 2019, one of the biggest impacts was to air travel, as more air traffic controllers and TSA agents began calling off.
On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Scripps News that air traffic controllers risk losing their jobs if they call off from work.
